Hidden In The Shadows Lies An Unrequited Love
by toriajade
Summary: NOTE: The pairing will take some time to actually develop, so for the  first few chapters you might not notice much Fang & Iggy action. Sorry for any  disappointment.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1  
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Setting: After 7th Book

Warnings: None

Pairing: Fang and Iggy

Rating: T

**NOTE: The pairing will take some time to actually develop, so for the**** first few chapters you might not notice much Fang & Iggy action. Sorry for any**** disappointment.**

"So this is what it feels like to be free." Dylan thought as he tilted his wings, the wind gusts flowing through his feathers, keeping him aloft. He had never had freedom, at least none he could remember. Between the evil scientist and Max, he had always been weighed down. But now, every bone in his body was free, he had cut all ties with his former love, and was out in the open on his own.

Dylan had been programmed to love Max, even if she refused it. But today had been the last straw.

"Dylan, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Max had snarled at him, her knotted hair falling into her face as she spoke. Normally he loved her hair, for it arched around her face like spun gold. But after weeks of Max weeping over Fang leaving _again_, he'd had enough.

"I'm making you cookies. You _do_ like chocolate chip cookies, right?" Dylan replied, a cheery grin on his face.

"The kitchen is a mess! Look at this place, it's a disaster!"

Dylan glanced among the cupboards and counter tops, not a grain of salt on the counter. _What is going through her mind right now?_ he wondered to himself.

"Earth to the tall, blue-eyed bird brain!" Max's shouted in his face, her eyes bugging out of her head.

"Max, maybe you should take a moment to calm down. Just a little."

"How am I supposed to relax when I have to waste the remaining days of my life protecting the flock and watching you to make sure YOU don't do anything stupid?" Max shrieked in his face, her arms flailing violently.

"If you really feel that way, then I'll leave." Dylan murmured, his feelings now hurt. The constant hatred from Max had been wearing Dylan down, and he had finally reached his breaking point. _Maybe I don't deserve love..._ Dylan thought to himself.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Nobody's stopping you!" Max yelled at Dylan once again, which brought him back from his thoughts.

"Okay, I will!" Dylan returned the loud sound waves back at her.

_And that is when I left..._ Dylan thought, looking back at the situation now as he dove below the ledge of a canyon cave. _Thank goodness I got out of there when I did, I hope the rest of the flock is doing okay without me._..


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Setting: After 7th Book

Warnings: None

Pairing: Fang and Iggy

Rating: T

"Iggy, why are you so lazy? You never do anything! I know that I'm the designated leader, but that doesn't mean that you get to chill on the sidelines doing absolutely nothing!" Max snapped.

_Oh great, this again._ Iggy thought to himself. Ever since Fang had left, Max had been a total wreck. The occasional times she did manage to pull herself out of her river of tears, she turned into a raging wildebeest of torment and torture. Unfortunately for Iggy, Max's wrath sprung out once again from her coils of fury.

"Don't just sit there! I **know** you can hear me! You're only blind, not deaf!" Max belts out into Iggy's earlobes, unaware of the feelings Iggy had built up inside him.

_This is he final straw, _Iggy decided. _I can't take it anymore!_

"Max that's it! I can't deal with you any longer! Fang left, and I realize that this is upsetting you, it struck all of us, **hard**. But that doesn't make it alright for you to go around yelling at us just to make up for your lack of squabbling with Fang!" Iggy snapped.

"But Fang wasn't the only one that left me; Dylan left too! And-"

Not wanting to hear her response, Iggy stormed out of the room, slamming the door so hard his genetically enhanced strength nearly tore the door off of it's hinges. With that final blow, Iggy jumped out the living room window, and took off up into the gray, clouded sky.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Setting: After 7th Book

Warnings: None

Pairing: Fang and Iggy

Rating: T

_Is that a town up ahead?_ Dylan thought to himself as he came across a series of low, house shaped buildings just around the corner from the previous canyon he had been weaving his way through. _Maybe there's some food nearby..._

Dylan began his slow descent downward, and attempted to hide his landing behind a tan building with a worn down back parking lot. As he gracefully landed on his feet, Dylan's stomach growled, reminding him that he hadn't eaten since breakfast. "Hopefully there's something around here to eat." the blonde avian mumbled as he looped around to the front of the small dwelling.

Just as Dylan reached the front doors of the building, he noticed a faded message overlooking the front doors of the establishment. Above the entrance hung a crooked white sign that bared _Sky Cafe_ in faded royal blue paint. Curious, Dylan shook on of the door handles. Surprisingly, it opened. _Finally, time to find some food._ he thought.

With his super sight, it took hardly any time for Dylan to locate any useable resources within the small restaurant. Although the dust and boarded windows clearly signaled that the business hadn't been open in months, the tall hybrid managed to find several containers of pudding, three cans of peaches, a few granola bars, and several cans of various soups. "This'll do for now I suppose." he said before downing the canned peaches and seven pudding cups.

After finishing his meal, Dylan located an old company bag which appeared to have been used for the Cafe's delivery service. Once he stuffed his remaining apparatus into the bag, he set off on foot, hoping to find somewhere to stay.

Dylan managed to walk the narrow streets of the town multiple times, scanning for any nearby trees or comfy-looking roofs where he could rest up. Just as he turned onto Nightview Avenue for the fifth time, he spotted the first person he had seen since landing, and it looked a lot like Fang.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Setting: After 7th Book

Warnings: None

Pairing: Fang and Iggy

Rating: T

"What a day." Fang sighed as he collapsed on a bed in his motel room. Fang's flock had been traveling all over, and they finally stopped to rest in an old motel.

"Don't you find it odd that this entire town seems abandoned?" Ratchet asked as turned away from the nearby window to face Fang. The setting sun shined its reflection on his aviator sunglasses as he rotated.

"What makes you think it looks abandoned?" Fang replied. His instincts told him the place had been at population zero since they first arrived. Now inside he was relieved to know he wasn't the only suspicious one.

"Maybe the lack of people, closed stores, and the fact that this entire place still has all of its furniture?" Star responded wittingly, brushing some of her short blonde hair out of her face.

"Hey, it's got what we need, and that's what matters." Fang stated, trying to shake any ideas of why everybody had left here so suddenly. There had been no signs of fire, nuclear explosions, or any other natural disasters here. _If nothing happened where did everybody go-_

Fang's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Setting: After 7th Book

Warnings: None

Pairing: Fang and Iggy

Rating: T

"Oomph!" Iggy landed face first on the rust colored soil of a canyon ledge. He had been flying all day, but now his pure white wings were now covered in the orange dust as it settled around him. Among the many things that bounced around in Iggy's mind, the main one was getting something to drink.

_There's got to be water here somewhere... _Iggy thought as he managed to stand up, shaking the sediment off of his feathered appendages. As he began to walk around, he located the nearest wall of a cave with what were delicate hands, but had become rougher and torn from the tired landing. While his fingers traced along the edges of the wall, something fell on his head from above.

Upon closer inspection, Iggy located a lower point in the cave's ceiling where water seemed to be collecting, then falling to the dry, dusty floor. The tall avian sprawled out facing upward toward the ceiling drip, and allowed his tongue to absorb the water, though sandy in texture, he figured it would do.

After having his fill of water, Iggy noticed the drop in temperature, and decided it must have turned to night while he was drinking. Just then, the chilly evening air began to blow into the cave, causing the strawberry blonde to shiver. Huddling behind a near rock, Iggy found it hard to conserve his body heat. "When will this night be over?" he sadly mumbled to himself. "Where in the world is Fang?" Iggy whimpered, dreading the freezing night that lay ahead for him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Setting: After 7th Book

Warnings: None

Pairing: Fang and Iggy

Rating: T

_There's got to be an explanation for this,_ Dylan thought as he began to sprint in the direction the supposed dark-haired Avian-American had been seen from. _Maybe I'm still tired out from the flight here?_ His feet were now at a full on run, but he couldn't manage to find the dark figure. _I know I saw him. Who else on this earth has a pair of pitch black wings and a human skeletal system attached to it? _Dylan began to slow as he rounded another corner, still finding no sign of the mysterious Fang look-alike.

"This. Is. Ridiculous." Dylan muttered between huffs of air, clearly too distraught to continue. _Maybe I really am going insane. It would explain seeing Fang and not being able to find him now. Though he isn't the easiest of the flock to find..._

Before Dylan was able to continue his hunt for finding the mystery man, everything went black.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Setting: After 7th Book

Warnings: None

Pairing: Fang and Iggy

Rating: T

"Ow! What the-?" Iggy yelled as he awoke from slumber, his head having been bumped by one of the many falling rocks he found himself stepping on, not remembering them being there earlier. _Where did all of these rocks come from? _He thought as he dusted some of the rock's sandy residue off of his forehead, now throbbing with a severe headache.

"Wait a minute," Iggy said as his aching mind tried to make sense of the situation. _The falling rock may be why my head is in excruciating pain, but that doesn't explain why the rest of my body is shaking... _"Hmm..." the Avian hummed, taking off into the air for a closer inspection.

As the strawberry-blonde launched himself into the hair, he noticed his shaking body was now in sync with his wings movements, flowing with the wind. "There must be an earthquake going through the canyon!" Iggy exclaimed, now glad that he had solved his mystery, allowing his mind to rest some. "Guess I'm not staying in the cave another night-" Iggy's stomach growled angrily, reminding him that he still desperately needed food. The teenager flipped his hair out of his eyes, hoping to find some sign of civilization close by with the miniscule amount of aid his eyes gave him.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Setting: After 7th Book

Warnings: None

Pairing: Fang and Iggy

Rating: T

"Fang, come quick!" Kate yelped as she whipped the door open, knocking over cans of the group's food supply off the counter with the sudden shaking of the walls. Kate ran inside the room, flailing her arms. In the doorway stood a stunned Holden frozen in mid-knock.

"Why so urgent?" Fang asked quizzically, his dark eyebrows raising to meet the creases forming in his forehead.

"There's a guy from Max's flock down the street, and he's injured!" Kate pointed in the direction she had found the victim, emphasizing her urgency.

"How do you know he's from the flock?" Fang continued to persist for details, now hopping up from his resting position on the bed. _I hope it isn't Iggy or Gazzy._ Fang thought to himself, noticing the whole room appeared to be shaking still from the door slamming against the main wall.

"He's tall, blonde, and has wings like you do!" Kate shouted, now annoyed by Fang's lack of response the the situation.

_Dylan's here? Was he following me earlier? Why is he here? _Fang's mind rang loud with questions as he managed to reply "Show me where he is."

"Follow me! And hurry!" Kate raced out the door and her footsteps echoed down the stairs. The rest of Fang's flock followed behind her, leaving the door wide open in their rush to the street.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Setting: After 7th Book

Warnings: None

Pairing: Fang and Iggy

Rating: T

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><p><strong>AN: Let me know what you guys think of the story so far! Reviews/comments/suggestions are greatly appreciated!**

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><p>Colors were swirling on the horizon, or where it used to lie. Now the world appeared dark, with streaks of paint crisscrossing all over. Distant voices were yelling something, but it was they were too far for Dylan to make out what they were saying. Flashbacks of the lab were now reoccurring deep within the blonde's mind.<p>

The strange, far away voices turned into the pained moans of the other experiments he heard as he was trapped behind the glass. While he was safe in a large vat of a clear gel, able to move around, he witnessed a view of multiple stacked crates off to a side of his clear, human sized tank. What he once thought were empty, abandoned cages, now joined in unison with both their pained expressions and dreadful screeches for help. Occasionally he would see a thin limb or two emerge from between the metal bars, only to be quickly shooed by one of the numerous coated scientists wandering the isles. As each one died, they'd leave them there a day or two, then drag the metal cage away, most likely into another lab for further data collecting.

Soon the moans grew so loud that they were becoming unbearable for Dylan. Trying to shake them out of his head, he started hitting his cranium with his fists. The drowning sounds began to transform back into words as the unconscious boy started to come to, and the sudden light blinded his eyes.

"Dylan, wake up!" Fang's dark hair fell into his dark eyes as he shook the young avian awake. Dylan could now make out the former distant horizon, as well as a small crowd of people around him. As he slowly returned his fists to open palms, he noticed an extremely large tree branch off to the side of where he lay.

Sitting up and examining the remainder of his surroundings, most of which were covered in the same green leaves as the branch, he concluded in his mind that he had been struck by the branch. His mind still remained shaken as his gaze went from the branch to the spot where he had been laying, horrified by the scene of his awful nightmare during what he thought had been his never ending unconsciousness.

"Dylan, can you hear me?" Fang was now crouched about a foot away from his left side, still staring intently into the boy's blue eyes.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I think I'm okay." Dylan managed to croak out as he tried to stand, his feet weak and wobbly. As he tried to expand his wings to both assess the damage to them and give him more balance, a sharp stinging of pain surged through his entire upper body. Just as the pain managed to touch the tip of his wings, his legs gave out, leaving him with a face full of asphalt.

"Woah! Careful there," Fang lifted the other boy off of the street, giving his face a better view than the rocky road that left some of its remnants embedded into his golden hued skin. "That was quite a hit. You should rest for a while." Fang helped the tall blonde place his wings into a slightly less irritating position, and wrapped then wrapped his own arms around Dylan's torso to help carry him. Ratchet and Holden lifted Dylan's legs, following Fang's orders, leaving only his feet to dangle on their own. Kate and Star followed close behind them as they all worked their way back to the motel.


End file.
